It has to be all wailing and sobbing when anyone passes away. My neighbour, a 50 year old man, passed away due to liver failure last week. It was not that shocking as he was very ill. Since early morning, my neighbour's house was crowded with relatives and friends as he had passed in the night. I was expecting the wailing and loud cries to start any moment. But they never came. The level of reactions was different amongst the different age groups. The elderly were very quiet and by elderly, I mean the ones above 75 years of age. The middle aged and the 'less' elderly were disscussing topics from business to the prices of vegetables to the traffic jams. The younger groups were busy on their mobliles, chatting away to glory with their regular friends.
I avoided going to pay my condolences that day. The family was busy serving refreshments. To an observer who had no idea about the happening it would seem as just another celebration.
For two days, it was the same scene. Uncles, aunts, Grannies...
Just I was about to feel guilty about not having visited my neighbour, I met her. I immediately said how sorry I was not to have talked to her earlier. I was feeling awkward and totally at a loss for topics. But it seemed that she had chosen the topic herself. She began with the details of the evening of the D-Day till he was cremated. There was this faithful side-kick with her ( I call her that as she was filling in with the appropriate sighs and words, at the appropriate time). Luckily, my tot, who was annoyed at being kept from her cartoons for so long, began pulling me inside our flat. I left my neighbour, with the look in her eyes which said ' wait, I have to yet tell you the other minute details'.
Later, as I sat pondering over the chat, I realised how she had put herself into the automated gear, ready to explain to everyone who came to her, in detail about the most common question 'How did this happen?'
Has death become such a light-hearted topic for us? Being a bit on the spiritual-side, I know that the soul is immortal and all that stuff... so will the poor fellow's soul be tormented when It sees the indifference of the Living!!
2 comments:
I really admire the way you can put words and be descriptive .
there is a time when the fear of losing someone is lost... thats when death becomes a light-hearted topic for a few people.. the soul is already in some other body and still alive and is indifferent in itself..
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